The great falling away and The new world order. Will you join the revolution?

(© Sean Gibson) 

False teachings running rampant within the American church have created a “whiteout” condition for millions of believers. Here’s how to detect—and overcome—these destructive doctrines before it’s too late.

Editor’s Note: Most Charisma readers remember Steve Hill as the fiery evangelist from the Brownsville Revival who has since continued to win countless souls for Jesus around the world. But what many readers don’t realize is that Hill only recently came out of a three-year battle with melanoma. During that time, he received a prophetic vision warning the church of an impending “spiritual avalanche” that could kill millions. The following article on deception in the church is part of this timely message, now delivered in his latest book, Spiritual Avalanche.
Years ago my wife, Jeri, and I were driving on the interstate when we were overcome by a white cloud of windblown snow. “I can’t see a thing!” I shouted. We were experiencing a complete whiteout. I lost all sense of direction. I couldn’t see the road or other cars. Everything had vanished, replaced by this strange, mystical blizzard of white. The only thing I knew to do was to slow down and pray that I was still on the road. 

By the providence of God I came to a stop in the median, where we waited out the storm. When it lifted, I was shocked at what we’d gone through. Miles in front of me and miles behind were wrecks—too many to number. Massive trucks had slid off the road and turned over. Cars were everywhere. It was purely by the hand of the Lord that we survived.

A whiteout is a weather condition in which visibility is severely reduced by snow. The horizon disappears completely; there are no reference points at all, leaving the individual with a distorted orientation.
This is what’s happening today in the church. Many are oblivious to the dangers on the horizon. In this spiritual whiteout the reference points—the ancient landmarks—have been covered. Erroneous teachings have merged together with truth, causing innocent believers to become disoriented—and blinded.
The Lord recently imparted to me a vision concerning the state of the church and what we must do about it. Those familiar with our ministry know we’ve never played games and have a deep, reverential fear for the work of God. Given this, I urge you to take heed to the following words. If you think I’m just letting off some steam, understand that I’ve just passed through three years of cancer treatments. I had been given only days to live. And as Leonard Ravenhill often reminded me, we must speak with the unction and urgency of God. We are all nothing more than dying men preaching to dying men.
In the vision I saw the church, depicted as a beautiful ski resort, with an enormous avalanche hovering overhead. The Lord immediately revealed the interpretation. This impending spiritual avalanche carried a threat that could destroy everyone. I’ve spent countless hours in the past attempting to rescue those who had fallen prey to false teaching. Now, in this visitation from God, I saw layers upon layers of snow steadily covering the solid, traditional truth of Christ. As with a whiteout, the truth had been lost in the flurry. No one who loves God willingly preaches deception, yet a spiritual whiteout of unhealthy, unbalanced and, in some cases, unbiblical teaching is blinding the body of Christ in America, and it is quickly spreading around the world.
How Has This Happened?

Unhealthy and destructive teaching can enter the church in various ways. Sometimes a biblical truth is taught to the exclusion of other biblical truths, producing a dangerous imbalance. At other times a biblical truth is taught in an exaggerated way, often going beyond what Scripture actually says, and in the end this does more harm than good. Many times clear, biblical warnings are ignored or reinterpreted so radically that they lose all impact or effect, leaving people vulnerable and exposed.
Paul warned that the “time will come when [believers] will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Tim. 4:3-4). Today’s church in America, as a whole, is dangerously close to turning aside to such fables. Millions have already succumbed to these false teachings. Before we lose any more souls, it’s crucial that we identify what I believe are the seven greatest lies that have infiltrated the church and have led to a whiteout of error

1) Overemphasis of Prosperity
Undoubtedly, some adherents of the carnal prosperity message are motivated by greed. For them, preaching Jesus is a means of financial gain, something Paul rebuked in the strongest possible terms, speaking of men “of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain” (1 Tim. 6:5).
Yet many sincere believers embrace this message too—and back their case with Scripture. They point to the covenant blessings the Lord promised to Israel for their obedience, including financial prosperity (Deut. 28:1-13). They highlight verses in Proverbs and Psalms that link financial prosperity to generosity, hard work, godly living and faith (e.g., Ps. 112). They remind us of wonderful promises, such as those found in Proverbs 3:9-10—and how Jesus reiterated these in the New Testament with teachings such as, “Give, and it will be given to you” (Luke 6:38). And they quote Paul, who wrote about the financial principles of sowing and reaping (1 Cor. 9; 2 Cor. 8-9; Phil. 4:11-19).
Are you with me? I am not against you having money. But I am adamantly against money having you. The problem is, there’s more to the story that the carnal prosperity preachers fail to mention:Jesus warned against storing up treasures on earth (Matt. 6:19-24) and covetousness (Luke 12:15).
Jesus emphasized caring for the poor (Matt. 25:31-46).
Paul and John both taught that we should not live according to this present age (1 Cor. 7:29-31; 1 John 2:15-17).
Jesus did not die to make us financially wealthy but to save us from our sins (Matt. 1:21).
God chose the poor to be rich in faith and kingdom heirs (James 2:5).
More importantly, the carnal prosperity preachers have ignored other biblical warnings, like Paul’s powerful words to Timothy: “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness” (1 Tim. 6:9-11).
Carnal prosperity preachers encourage God’s people to seek after riches—or to seek after God for the purpose of riches—often even judging your spirituality by the kind of car you drive. What does that have to do with the gospel of Jesus?

2) Exaggerated View of Grace
This hyper-grace teaching has become an epidemic (see “What’s Wrong With Grace?” on p. 28). It has slipped in almost unnoticed and taken root like an unwanted weed—easy to get in but hard to get out of the Christian. I have personally dealt with many young people who were once on fire but fell under this “kicked-back” view of God. Now, instead of pursuing Him, they are partying. This “unmerited freedom,” if not tackled and taken out, will spread to future generations, leaving us with millions of lukewarm Christians who have traded their passion for poison.
Sadly, some hyper-grace preachers live in sin and ease their consciences by preaching about a God who is all love and who never condemns, a God who doesn’t judge us by our conduct. Like the false teachers Jude confronted, they “turn the grace of our God into lewdness” (Jude 4). The New International Version describes such lewdness as “a license for immorality.”
But not every hyper-grace preacher is looking for a way to justify sin. Some truly love Jesus but are simply preaching truth mixed with error. They’ve taken an undeniable, glorious truth about God and presented it in such an exaggerated form that they nullify all divine warnings and even claim that the words of Jesus don’t apply to New Covenant believers. If this seems judgmental, then it’s time to honestly line everyone’s teachings—including mine—alongside the Word. Don’t just go through the Word; let the Word go through you. Why are we so afraid in this godless generation to confront fallacies?
These hyper-grace teachers rightly emphasize that we are saved by grace and not by works (Eph. 2:8-9), that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Rom. 5:6-8), that we are no longer sinners but saints in God’s sight (1 Cor. 1:2), that God’s love for us is not based on our performance (Rom. 5:9-10), that having begun in the Spirit we can’t become perfect by human effort (Gal. 3:3), that we are now sons and daughters of God, joint heirs with Jesus (Rom. 8:15-17), and more!
But they ignore mountains of other scriptural truths and draw wrong theological conclusions. For example, they rightly teach that Jesus died for all our sins—past, present and future—but wrongly conclude that as believers we no longer have to deal with sin (meaning we never have to confess sin or repent of sin, and the Holy Spirit no longer convicts us of sin). Aren’t you tired of hearing of another backslidden brother? Trace his steps and you’ll often find he was given permission to slip away from the wonderful freedom of holiness into the bondage of humanism.

3) Antinomianism
Antinomianism—long word, simple meaning. The word literally means “against law.” It’s a short jump from an overemphasis on the grace message to complete antinomianism. In practice, it means that “anything goes,” since Jesus has set us free. The problem is, Jesus didn’t set us free to sin; He set us free from sin.
Jesus died for us and broke sin’s power on our lives so that now, by the Spirit, we can live out the righteous requirements of the law (Rom. 8:1-4). Yet purveyors of this poisonous teaching fail to realize that Jesus calls us beyond the requirements of the law in His teaching, stating, for example, that adultery refers to adultery of the heart and not just the physical act (Matt. 5:27-28).
God’s perfect, holy, glorious law is not the problem. Sinful flesh is the problem. Sin will take you farther than you ever wanted to go. Sin will cost you more than you ever wanted to pay. And sin will keep you longer than you ever intended to stay. Sin will promise you everything but leave you with nothing. Sin will love you for a season and curse you for eternity.
For all the antinomians out there who believe “anything goes,” the question is, where do you end up?

4) Deification of Man
Many false teachings today start with man rather than with God. In contrast, when Paul laid out the gospel message in Romans, he started with God and then went to man: God is holy and we are not; He is righteous and we are not; we are under His judgment and in need of mercy, and that mercy comes through the cross.
Today’s gospel, especially in America, has a very different ring to it; rather than being all about God, it’s all about me. Just as the American way is to make everything bigger and better, the American gospel says that Jesus came to make you into a bigger and better you. That is not the gospel!
Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matt. 16:24-25).
We are in grave danger worldwide as millions upon millions gaze upon man rather than God. Just take a look at our political system. Words like messiah, lord, savior and anointed one are tossed around like candy. I cringe at heaven’s response. This is a setup for the Antichrist; as we become so accustomed to worshipping man, it will be a simple maneuver for the Antichrist to move into position.

5) Challenging the Authority of the Word
The challenging of God’s authority goes back to the Garden of Eden, starting with the serpent’s challenge to Eve: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1). This satanic challenge was twofold: First, did God really say that? And second, God didn’t really mean what He said. After all, you won’t die if you eat from the tree (vv. 1-5).
That twofold challenge continues to assault us today. Best-selling authors tell us the biblical text isn’t reliable, that the biblical manuscripts we have in our possession are hopelessly contradictory, and that we can know little or nothing about the real, historical Jesus. Other authors tell us that the Bible is no more than a collection of religious traditions and that God Himself is nothing more than a religious myth.
For the most part, though, the challenge to the authority of the Scriptures is subtler, and some of it flows out of the deification of man, which says, “The Bible must live up to my standards. I will judge the God of the Bible based on my morality rather than the God of the Bible judging me based on His morality.” In short, when the Scriptures contradict our feelings and preferences rather than crucify our feelings and preferences and bow down before God and His Word, we question God’s Word.

6) Rejecting Hell
Nowhere is this questioning of God’s Word seen any more clearly than when it comes to the subject of hell and future punishment. And because we preach an imbalanced gospel—emphasizing God’s love and ignoring His wrath, emphasizing His mercy and ignoring His justice—we no longer have room for hell and future punishment in our theology.
Why did Jesus use such strong language in talking about the fire of hell and about people weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth (see Matt. 8:12)? And why did He teach that “it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matt. 5:29)? And why do other New Testament writers warn us repeatedly about the wrath to come (see Eph. 5:1-6)?
It’s one thing to debate the exact nature of the future punishment that awaits those who reject the gospel. It’s another thing to downplay or eliminate it. Whatever legitimate debate we may have on the precise nature of the coming judgment, this much is clear from the Word: it will be irreversible, dreadful and of eternal consequence.
Revelation 20:11-15 clearly warns about the coming Great White Throne Judgment. Yet modern-day heresy teachers have taken it upon themselves to erase the judgment. The result, if believed and followed, will be too devastating to mention.

7) Universal Reconciliation
Universal reconciliation promotes a get-out-of-jail-free mentality—that in the end, everyone will make it into heaven because of Jesus’ death on the cross. (In contrast, universalism teaches that all paths lead to God.) There may be future suffering, but it will be purging rather than punishment, and ultimately everyone will be saved.
Proponents of universal reconciliation point to verses that teach that God reconciled “all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20). And they point out that just as in Adam all die, in Jesus all will live (Rom. 5:12-21).
What would you say if someone attempted to persuade you that Adolf Hitler was in heaven? “Abomination!” you would scream. “You’re deranged!” Yet that’s a sample of the fundamental false teaching of this layer of “avalanche snow.” Added to other layers mentioned previously, we will find the believer’s foundation deteriorated, and when the storms come, the house will come crumbling to the ground.
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During this season when we celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, let’s determine to glorify Him by staying pure. A gentle breeze of false teaching has become a strong wind of serious error, some of it downright heretical, and a storm of doctrinal deviation has become a massive deadly whiteout. Amid this whiteout, stay committed to His teachings. Don’t permit any false teaching to subtly weave its way into your life, bringing down an avalanche that could destroy everything you hold so dearly. I won’t let it happen. Not in my lifetime and not in yours.
I urge you to open your heart and read Spiritual Avalanche. Revelation will be imparted from its pages. This 30-minute, full-color vision shook me to the core. I wept as I saw it and wept as I wrote the book. I love the church and will do everything possible to prepare her to meet the Groom. She isn’t ready, but she will be!
Yes, Jesus said in the last days even the elect could be deceived. But not you! You’re too smart for that!

You must believe. By His stripes ye are healed Isaiah 53: 4&5

Copyright: Jesus Folk
Exod 15:26
26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

Exod 23:25-26
25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

Deut 7:15
15 And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee. 


Ps 91:9-10
9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 


Ps 103:1-5
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; 5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Ps 107:19-20
19 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. 20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.  

Prov 4:20-23 20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 

Isa 41:10
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

Isa 53:4-5
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Isa 55:9-11
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.  

Isa 58:6-11
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. 9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: 11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.  

Jer 30:17
17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.  

Mal 3:6
"For I am the Lord, I change not"  

Mal 4:2-3
2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.  

Matt 7:7-11
7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? 


Matt 8:16-17
16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: 17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. 

Matt 9:35
35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 

Matt 15:30-31
30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: 31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.  

Mark 11:22-24
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Mark 16:17-18
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Luke 4:17-19
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Luke 9:1-2
1 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. 2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. 

Luke 10:8-9
8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: 9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. 

Luke 13:16
16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

Acts 4:29-30
29 And now, Lord, behold their threatening: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.  


Acts 5:15-16
15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. 16 There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

Acts 10:38
38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Gal 3:13
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

James 5:13-16
13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  
 
1 John 5:14-15
"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.  

3 John 2

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

(Romans 7:19) "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice."

Wally Tedrick

(Romans 7:19)
"For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice."

Ponder those words for a moment...confusing yet true. Romans 7 is a fascinating chapter on struggling with sin. Paul writes openly about the war within himself, the battle between the sinful flesh and the spirit. “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice… O wretched man that I am!” (Romans 7:19,24).

Every one of us struggles with sin every day, and the sooner we admit that, the better off we’ll be.
If you say you don’t struggle with the flesh, you are deceived and deluded. The Bible clearly states, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

When you come to Christ, the guilt you have is taken away in Him. But because of that, those "new" in Christ might think they're never going to struggle anymore with problems, sin, and temptation (in fact, some "seasoned" Christians fall into that trap as well). In reality, when you accept Christ, you become a target of the devil because you have now defected from the devil's camp! Before you were saved, he had you on his side, and he lied and told you, “Get ‘spiritual,’ get ‘nice,’ do anything you want but don't come to Jesus.” And he and his demons surely did not give you a standing ovation when you said, “Lord Jesus, be my savior.” You defected and now you’re a target. They’re after you. When you come to grips with the truth of the continuing struggle with sin, you may say, “What do I do now?”

Some people resort to legalism. They say, “I’ll keep all the Law and the Commandments. I’ll do everything good.” They try to uphold holiness, and at the same time they become very critical of people who don’t do everything right and perfect. They are like the Pharisees of Jesus' day. And just as Jesus said to them: "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me." (Matthew 15:7-8).
Legalism is like being tied to a block of cement that drags you down. Legalism doesn’t help free you from sin. It doesn't bring you closer to Christ, and you feel condemned all the time...frustrated, miserable and completely lacking in the freedom that Christ wants for us.

Others decide they’ll go it alone, or practice the “do-it-yourself” brand of Christianity. They say, “I’ll set my own rules, pull myself up by my own bootstraps. I can conquer it. I can deal with it. I have more perseverance than most.” And these people, too, are very frustrated and miserable. Let me make this clear..NO amount of strength within ourselves can conquer sin! That strength can only come from Christ!
Paul finally comes to the place where he cries out, “Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25). That’s the key! You cannot do it alone!

One of the truths of Romans is that there is nothing within ourselves that is of any value to procure our own right standing before God. Paul came to this truth: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” (Romans 7:18). C.S. Lewis put it very simply: “No amount of bad eggs can create a good omelet.”

So no matter how many good things you think you see in yourself, obeying the Law and self-effort do not conquer sin. Only the power of Jesus Christ conquers sin. Paul’s words should be our prayer EVERY day: “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

UK Government Approves Genetically Engineered “Three-Parent” Embryos BREAKING END TIMES NEWS

Copyright: LifeNews

Great Britain’s Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which oversees fertility treatments and embryo research in that nation, recently approved fertility procedures that would amount to the genetic engineering of children through cloning (nuclear transfer) technology and germ-line modification, resulting in a “three-parent embryo” that would have genetic material from two mothers and one father.
Proponents of such an unprecedented step provide a therapeutic rationale to justify taking it: the fertility procedures envisioned are aimed at creating embryos free from mitochondrial defects which can give rise to serious diseases and defects after birth.
The majority of a cell’s genetic material is contained within its nucleus. The mitochondria are organelles that lie outside the nucleus and serve to provide energy for the cell; they also contain some genetic material (mtDNA).  Only a mother’s mitochondria are passed on to offspring, so if the mother’s mitochondria have defects, this can eventually result in diseases to the child who has inherited from her the flawed mitochondria.

Researchers in Great Britain have developed a method that attempts to remedy this and create an embryo free of mitochondrial defects it would otherwise contain.  To achieve this, researchers use a cloning technique called pro-nuclear transfer (PNT): the father’s sperm is used to fertilize the mother’s egg which contains the defective mitochondria, creating one embryo.  However, a second egg from a donor, containing healthy mitochondria, is also fertilized, producing a second embryo.  The nuclei from both embryos are removed, thus destroying them both.  The nucleus from the embryo with the defective mtDNA is placed in the de-nucleated embryo “shell” with the healthy mtDNA. The resulting third embryo, which is then implanted in the mother, thus has genetic materials from two mothers and one father, thus the phrase “three-parent embryo”.

The procedure itself is currently illegal in Britain, as British law prohibits implantation of embryos that have been genetically modified, as this procedure does.  The HFEA now favors changing the law to allow this procedure to eventually become a routine part of fertility treatments there.
While the goal of trying to prevent mitochondrial-caused diseases is of course a worthwhile one, the ethical alarms set off by this way of doing so are numerous.
Most obviously, the procedure destroys two embryos in order to produce a genetically modified third one.  And because this is a new technology, there is no way of knowing what the impact will be on the child created through this experimental three-parent technique. The child would be born with the DNA from the father, the mother and the woman who donates (or sells) her egg.  This is human experimentation on progeny who are incapable of giving consent.

Moreover, the modifications made are germ-line, meaning they would be passed on to future generations; this has never been done before.  While proponents of this procedure justify this germ-line modification because it eliminates undesirable traits that may lead to disease (the mtDNA), doing so for the first time virtually invites eugenically motivated future germ-line modifications to insert desirable ones.  This would turn children into genetically engineered and enhanced commodities

Finally, there is the problem of the risks to otherwise healthy young women who are being asked to donate their eggs.  Should the “three-parent” procedure prove effective and become routine, the amount of eggs this procedure would require would be considerable, in addition to the large number of eggs that would be needed to carry out the research needed to get to that point.

The risks entailed by getting eggs outside of a woman’s body (e.g., click here) are present in the short and long term, as women must undergo injections of powerful hormones to cause the ovaries to produce many eggs in one cycle. Among the many known risks to this procedure, the most severe is ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS), which in rare cases causes death.  The medical literature indicates that young women are more at risk for developing OHSS, just the target audience for this practice. In addition, there are the risks associated with anesthesia and the surgery necessary to remove the eggs. Longer-term risks, such as the risk of harm to the donors’ own fertility or the risk of later developing cancer, are more unknown because of the lack of long-term follow-up and study of the women.  The 2006 Institute of Medicine Report, “Assessing the Medical Risks of Human Oocyte Donation for Stem Cell Research” states just how little is known about these women in the long-term because there is no monitoring and tracking.
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

The health risks of egg donation are serious and not fully understood.  Because of the lack of follow-up and tracking of egg donors, those who do suffer complications are not reported in the medical literature; therefore the risks are underestimated.   This lack of academic study and peer-reviewed publications on the aftermath for these women clearly makes informed consent impossible. Coupled with the payment-for-eggs plan, informed consent is even more coercive.  Women who have financial need, even if told the risks, will assume that risk because of their financial need. Until we have done the necessary research to understand the short- and long-term risks to healthy young women, it would be a breach of our fiduciary responsibilities to ask them to enter into such an experimental scientific endeavor. Unlike a research subject in a clinical trial, with built-in protections and safeguards, the egg donor is seen as a commodity, a mere provider of a necessary resource.  The conflicts of interest among the researchers who spur this high demand for eggs should be a red flag.
The goal of eliminating mitochondrial disease is praiseworthy. Yet advances in science should not come at the expense of our core humanity.  To allow this procedure would do far more damage to that humanity in the long run, as it would be a major step toward the engineering and commodification of human life.
LifeNews Note: Jennifer Lahl is President of the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network; Gene Tarne is senior analyst for the Charlotte Lozier Institute.

Have you ever been wrongly accused

Have you been wrongly accused? This is the day the Lord has made! January 1, 2013

Today God was my son's judge, his witness and his vindicator. Praise Jesus Messiah Christ!!

But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed.
You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you.
These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord;
Their vindication will come from me.
I, the Lord, have spoken! Isaiah 54:17 (NLT)

Another one is James 3:8-11 which says, “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?”
In Revelation 12:10, Satan is referred to as an ‘accuser of the brethren’; thus, the spirit of accusation comes from the enemy.
Their vindication will come from Me.
The Dictionary says, (1) to set free : deliver; (2) avenge; (3) a : to free from allegation or blame b (1) : confirm, substantiate (2) : to provide justification or defense for : justify c : to protect from attack or encroachment : defend; (4) to maintain a right to.
Psalms 135:14 says, “For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.” If you are His servant, then this is part of your inheritance. Remember this and wait on the Lord!

I, the Lord, have spoken!

Is there anything that needs to be said? In Isaiah 55:8-11, the Lord says,

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
God is Love!